Article of furniture



251 113, 1934. F. c. ROSS ARTICLE OF FURNITURE Filed April 25. 1932 INV N TOR 7m W 4 TTURNE X5 Patented Mar. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFHZE ARTICLE OF FURNITURE Francis Cecil Ross,

Kingston-upon-Hull,

England Application April 26, 1932, Serial No. 607,638

articles such as pencil sharpeners.

The object of the present invention is to provide a support of such a nature that a small manually operated device such as a pencil sharpener may be operably and rigidly supported without inconvenience to the user and yet when not in use can be accommodated, without release from the support, within articles of furniture such as drawers or cupboards, thereby preventing interierence with the furnishing scheme of a library or other room or eliminating possibility of oiience to the aesthetic taste of an 0bservor.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a support for a small manually operated device such as a pencil sharpener, which is such that when said support is secured to the inner face of an article of furniture such as a drawer or cupboard, the article may project upwardly from said drawer or cupboard when in use, but he concealed and wholly within the bounding planes of the drawer or cupboard when not required.

A still further object is to provide means whereby the article to be supported may be readily changed from its operative to its shrouded position by the depression of a trigger.

According to one aspect of the present invention a drawer of an article of furniture has on its inner face a plate member, hereinafter referred to as the stationary member, secured thereto by any deired means, said plate member in turn having hinged thereto a support, hereinafter referred-to as the carrier member, for an article such as a pencil shapener or the like manually operated small device.

According to a further aspect of the present invention a support consists of a pair of pivotal members one the carrier member supporting or carrying the base of the article, and the other, the stationary member, being adapted for attachment to a rigid support such as the inner face of a drawer or other article of furniture, the members being adapted to be locked with the carrier member substantially normal to the other, and to be manually released from such lock to permit the members to lie in substantially parallel planes when the article is not to be used.

The invention is more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in

which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view in elevation of the support with one element mounted on'the inner December 21, 1931 face of a drawer, a manually operated pencil sharpener being shown in two positions, namely in chain dotted lines in its operative position above the upper edge of the drawer and in full lines in its inoperative position within the bounding edges of the drawer, the position of the various elements of the support being consistent with the inoperative position of the pencil sharpener.

Figure 2 is a plan view corresponding to Figure 1, i. e., with the elements of the support in the inoperative position of the pencil sharpener or other manually operated device.

Figure 3 is a corresponding plan view with theelements in that position suitable for operation of the device, the catch or trigger for releasing the elements from their locked position, being modified as compared with the construction according to Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view along the line BB of Figure 3. a

In the construction according to the drawing the front wall of a drawer forming part of an article of furniture is illustrated at 10, the base at 11 and the side face at 12.-

The stationary member consists of a plate 13 having flanges 14 at each side, said plate member being rigidly secured to the inner face of the frontwall 10 of the drawer by means such as, for example, screws 15. The side flanges 14, over a portion of their length, are of arcuate form as shown at 16, an open slot 17 being formed in the edge of each of such flanged portions adjacent its end.

The open slots 17 are for the reception of abutments, preferably the ends of a transverse spindle 18 mounted on the carrier member 19. The carrier member 19 to which the manually operated device, in this case a pencil sharpener, 50, is rigidly connected also consists of a plate member having flanges 20 extending parallel to the flanges 14 of the stationary member 13 but in an opposite direction, said carrier member being pivoted at 24 to the stationary member.

The flanges 20 of the carrier member have closed slots 21 formed therein for the reception of the spindle 18. This spindle is connected by a spring 22 to a fixed abutment 23 on the web 19 of the carrier member.

A trigger or catch 25 preferably consisting of a plate member of substantially U-section and having a lip 26 adapted to be engaged by the finger of an operator, is perforated at 27 to receive the spindle 18 and in order that there can be no side play between the catch and the spindle the latter is provided with sleeves 28.

The lip 26 is adapted to be forced towards the free end of the carrier member within an open slot 29 in the web is of such carrier member.

Stops 30, preferably made of rubber, are secured in position on the flanges 20 of the carrier member to project therefrom, said stops engaging within recesses in the flanges 14 of the stationary member and lying against bent over portions 31 at the base of said recesses when the stationary and carrier members lie in parallel planes as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The method of operation is as follows:

Assuming that the stationary and carrier members 13, 19 are in the position shown in Figure 1 with the manually operated device such as the pencil sharpener 50 situated wholly within the drawer, i. e. within the bounding edges of the drawer, in order that the manually operated device 50 may be brought to an operative position the carrier member 19 is rotated about its pivots 24 on the stationary member by means of a pull on the lip 26, or again by a pull on the device 50 itself, this pull being continued until the carrier member assumes a horizontal position similar to that shown in Figure 4.

The ends of the spindle 18 then engage within the open slots 17 and maintain the carrier member in its operative position.

After the manually operated device has been used and it is desired to close the drawer, i. e. it is necessary to bring the manually operated device 50 back into a position shrouded wholly by the drawer, the lip 26 is depressed to force the spindle 18, against the action of the spring 22, out of contact with the slot 17 whereupon continued depression of the catch will force the carrier member downwardly about its pivot 24 until the stops 30 abut against the turned over edges 31 of the recesses in the stationary member.

The construction shown in Figures 3 and 4 differs from that shown in Figures 1 and 2 solely by virtue of the shape of the catch or trigger.

In the modified form of construction shown in Figures 3 and 4 the catch consists of a U-shaped member having a web portion 32 and side flanges 33 lying on the opposite side of the web 19 to that occupied by the flanges 20. In such an event there is no necessity to provide for a slot 29 in the web 19, instead, the web 19 is longitudinally slotted adjacent its flanges to receive depending flanges 34 which engage with and carry the spindle 18.

It will be appreciated that the manually operated device such as the pencil sharpener together with its support and hinged plate member which latter is adapted to be secured to the inner face of the drawer or cupboard, may be formed as a single unit ready for attachment to the article of furniture by screw or the like means.

I declare that what I claim is:--

1. An article of furniture including a sliding drawer, a plate member rigidly secured to an inner face of said drawer, a support for a inanually operated device such as a pencil sharpener, which support is pivotally mounted on said plate member, means on said support for engaging said plate member when said support is in a position normal to said plate member and thedrawer is open, spring means between said support and said engagement means for maintaining said engagement means in operative position and catch means displaceably mounted on said support and manually operable against said spring means for permitting relative displacement of said plate member and said support into parallel relationship when the drawer is to be closed.

2. As a support for a manually operated device such as a pencil sharpener, the combination of a stationary plate member, an element forming a support for said manually operated device and pivoted at one end to said stationary member, spring controlled means supported on said manually operated device supporting element to lock said plate member and said element in a relatively normal position constituting the operative position of said device and catch means also supported on said manually operated device supporting element and manually operated against said spring means for releasing said lock and permitting relative displacement of said member and said element to lie substantially parallel.

3. As a support for a manually operated device such as a pencil sharpener, the combination of a stationary plate member of U-section with its flanges having slots formed therein, a movable member pivoted to said plate member and forming a support for said manually operated device and having sidewalls with slots therein, the slots of one member being open and in the other closed, means extending through the closed slots of one member and adapted for engagement within the open slots of the other, and spring means between said extending means and one of said members for retaining said extending member within both sets of slots when the movable member is in a position normal to the stationary member.

l. As a support for a manually operated device such as a pencil sharpener, the combination of a stationary plate member of U-section with its flanges arcuate over a portion of their length and having open slots in their edges, an element pivoted to saidplate member and forming a support for said manually operated device also of U-section but inverted, said inverted U-section having slots formed in the bodies of the flanges, a spring operated spindle carried within the slots of said inverted U-shaped element to extend therefrom and to engage within the slots of said flanges on said plate member to lock said plate member and said element in a relatively normal position constituting the operative position of said device and manually operated catch releasing means for releasing said spring operated spindle from said open slots in the flanges of said plate member to permit said element to be rotated angularly relative to said plate member and to lie substantially parallel thereto.

5. As a support for a manually operated de vice such as a pencil sharpener, the combination of a stationary plate member of U-section with its flanges arcuate over a portion of their length and having open slots in their edges, an element pivoted to said plate member and forming a support for said manually operated device also of U-section but inverted, said inverted U- section having slots formed in the bodies of the flanges, a spindle carried within the slots of said device supporting element to extend therefrom and to engage within the open slots of said flanges on said plate member to lock said plate member and said device supporting element in a relatively normal position constituting the operative position of said device, spring means between said device supporting element and said spindle for holding said spindle within one end of said slots in said device supporting element and catch releasing means of inverted U-section connected to said spindle for displacing the same towards the other end of said slots in said device supporting element to release said spindle from engagement with the open slots in the edges of the flanges on said stationary plate member whereby said plate member and said device supporting element are free for relative angular rotation to lie in a relatively parallel position.

6. As a support for a manually operated device such as a pencil sharpener, the combination of a stationary plate member, a pivot thereon, flanges on said plate member, the edges of which flanges, over a portion of their length are curved about a radius, and have open slots adjacent their ends, an element forming a support for said manually operated device which element is mounted upon said pivot on said plate member and has longitudinal slots formed therein, flanges on said element, which flanges are also slotted, a spindle extending between the slots of said flanges on said device supporting element and projecting outwardly away from said slots for engagement through slots on said flanges of said stationary member, spring means connecting said spindle with said device supporting element and a catch releasing member having flanges projecting through the slots in said base structure element to engage the spindle and displace it longitudinally in said slots of said flanges on said device supporting element, against the action of said spring.

7. Means for supporting a device such as a pencil sharpener including a stationary member having a portion arranged to be rigidly secured against a wall of a piece of furniture, and also having flanges connected to said portion and providing therewith a U-section, a movable support for the device pivoted to the flanges of the stationary member for swinging movement of the device to either an operative or an inoperative position, and means for latching the support in operative position, said means comprising cooperative latching devices carried by the support and at least one of said flanges, one of said latching devices comprising a movable latch element, and the other a shoulder with which the latch element automatically engages when the support is swung to operative position, the latch element being manually movable to disengaged position to effect release of the support for movement to its inoperative position.

8. Means for supporting a device such as a pencil sharpener including a stationary member having a portion arranged to be rigidly secured against a wall of a piece of furniture, and also having flanges connected to said portion and providing therewith a U-section, a movable support for the device pivoted to the flanges of the stationary member for swinging movement of the device to either an operative or an inoperative position, a movable latch element on said movable support, and a cooperating latch shoulder on said flange engageable by said latch element when the support is swung to operative position, the latch element being manually movable to disengaged position to effect release of the support for movement to its inoperative position.

FRANCIS CECIL ROSS. 

